Committee Session II & III
Day 2 of the conference saw all the committees passing resolutions for thier first topic. Here's a summary of the committee sessions II & III:
Disarmament
and International Security Committee
The Disarmament and International Security
Committee (DISEC), was one of the first committees to pass their resolution.
The resolution attempted to resolve the issue of blood diamonds and reflects
the hard work involved in the creating and debating processes that transpired
behind the doors.
The impressive speed at which the DISEC
functioned at seemed to result from the large amount of personal interest that
each of the delegates showed in the topic. Despite the fact that many of them
were personally far removed from the issue, many delegates considered the topic
of blood diamonds to be a crucial issue and were therefore enthusiastic about
cooperating to come to a resolution that served to resolve the issue. The
delegate of the United States said, “blood diamonds have to be regulated in
order to create the equality and safety for those who are forced to work in the
mines and who live in fear.” The delegate of Nigeria showed an even firmer
stance on the issue, vehemently stating, “blood diamonds are just pure evil.
All underground, all covered with blood. It has to be understood and stopped.”
Perhaps it was this personal drive behind the delegates’ actions and words that
caused the resolution to be passed in such a timely manner, and unanimously.
The resolution that was agreed upon by the
committee involved clauses regarding implementing a fair trade standard for
diamonds, expanding the Kimberley Process to include more issues with regards
to human rights abuses, taking action to educate the public about blood
diamonds, and putting certain mechanisms in place to allow experts and analysts
to enter nations and observe human rights conditions in those nations.
Many delegates seemed to agree about the
fact that the debate on the first issue was “slow, but steady,” as the delegate
of Turkey put it. And this was evident in the flow of debate. Perhaps it was
because of the lack of key nations involved in the issue, such as Zimbabwe and Angola,
but for the most part, the debate was largely one-sided in that all of the
nations seemed to have the same opinion. Though some delegates seemed to be
disappointed by this lack of debate, others, such as the delegate of Nigeria,
praised it, saying that it was now “all about cooperation! Before, it was all
fighting and demanding ‘my’ resolution. Now the entire session is so calm and
well-controlled.”
In addition to encouraging collaboration
among the delegates, Chair Adam Gerard also stated that this new hybrid
procedure “has helped delegates in college writing and to get an in-depth look
at different clauses.” Hopefully, this type of procedure will also serve to be
beneficial in the debate on the second topic, and that the resolution for that
topic will be passed too!
by Yoonjie Park and Janette Rhee
Economic
and Financial Committee
The ECOFIN session took place in a small
room, where delegates stood up at their seat instead of at a podium to deliver
speeches. This minor issue, however, did not impact the quality or the flow of
the debate in any way. The speeches were every bit as eloquent and effective as
those at the other councils. The topic that the committee first attempted to
resolve was ensuring the equitable distribution of transnational natural
resources.
Despite this rather difficult broad and
multi-faceted issue, the delegates of ECOFIN seemed determined to resolve it.
Many of them, such as the delegate of Turkey, exhibited clear opinions on the
issue. He said, ”I believe that transnational natural resources should be
distributed equitably, but at the same time, countries should have rights over
their natural resources located in their territories.” Others, including the
delegate of France, were lost at first, but slowly grew more comfortable with
the topic. “I was completely alien to the topic at the beginning. But as I
started my research on this topic, I understood that far in my brain, I had
already formed an idea on this topic.” He concluded by saying that “more time
should be devoted to natural resources.” With this determination, the delegates
set to debate, most of them aware that was needed “specific measures for
various aspects, such as better foreign relations to solve this problem”, as
the delegate of Israel aptly said.
Their awareness of this fact was evident in
the high quality clauses and in turn, the resolution for the topic that they
produced at the end of two days of lobbying and debating, which was a
resolution that covered many of the main problems inherently existing in the
topic, as well as minor issues. It included clauses that tackled both specific
and general conflicts. One such specific conflict that was addressed was the
issue of conflicts over African minerals. Some of the solutions that were
included regarding these more specific conflicts were devoting more UN agencies
towards regulatory oversight and giving specific penalties to companies that
were deemed "bad." On the other hand, more general conflicts such as
the oil conflicts with the Middle East was attempted to be solved by encouraging
nations "to find ways of conducting join development which decreases
scarcity overall", as chair Ben Della Rocca said.
In this committee, it seemed as if the
slightly modified style of debate helped in streamlining the debate and
resolution creating process. As the delegate of Israel put it, “it is a very
friendly type of debate because we are able to discuss ideas and merge them
into better clauses. This helps each delegate, including me, learn about the
various aspects of the topic before any debating.” She also mentioned,
“the whole committee becomes one team” because of this procedure, because
“there isn’t much competition between delegates for we are submitting a single
resolution.” Hopefully, the delegates of ECOFIN will continue to work hard and
maintain this friendly and conducive environment!
by Yoonjie Park and Janette Rhee
Social,
Humanitarian and Cultural Committee
During the second session of YMUN Korea 2014, SOCHUM started debate on
the first topic regarding foreigners’ rights in homogenous populations. A total
number of 19 clauses suggesting ways to improve this problem were submitted.
Throughout the debate, it was evident that many
delegates were passionate about the issue. The delegate of the United States
said, “I believe that this issue is one that is inevitable and in some
countries, impossible to confront. It’s a very global and timeless issue that shouldn’t be treated, but cured;
we should do as much as we can for the freedom of foreigners.” Likewise, the
delegate of Turkey stated, “foreigners are discriminated and exploited in many
homogeneous populations. Even though foreigners are such a minority, they not
only deserve equal treatment, but also affirmative action such as positive
discrimination.” The other delegates too were intent on creating a
comprehensive and cohesive resolution, asking crucial questions that in turn
led to stronger clauses.
One of the clauses, submitted by the delegate of France,
emphasised the importance of using education as a principal tool to
successfully raise awareness on the issue. The delegate of Nigeria said, “the
committee debated on the education of foreigners who are having trouble
adapting in a country, as well as the education of citizens in homogeneous
populations in order to minimise prejudice against foreigners.” A second clause
that added onto this idea specifically outlined measures that would educate the
public about foreigners, such as by holding academic competitions regarding the
topic of foreigners that offer various prizes. Other clauses include using mass
media to raise awareness on the issue itself, and creating a global conference
to monitor the statuses of foreigners in nations.
During the initial few hours of debate, however, the
committee met with issues regarding the procedures of the conference. Many
delegates, such as the delegate of Turkey, expressed his hope for a “more
American-style procedure”, because of their lack of experience with this
procedure style. As a result, after a few hours of conference, chairs Hannah
Gonzales and Monica Lee announced a break and requested for suggestions from
delegates on how to improve the procedure style. “The chairs are trying to be
flexible with the procedures in order for them to be able to communicate with
the delegates better,” said chairperson Monica.
Although it remained a hybrid of THIMUN + UNA-USA, this
proved to be an effective measure, and the resolution was passed with relative
ease after changes in the procedure were implemented. Hopefully, the next
resolution will be as earnestly debated upon and passed with a large majority.
by Yoonjie Park and Janette Rhee
United Nations Children's Fund
As
soon as YMUN’s
second session started, delegates busied themselves in preparing clauses and
compiling them to create a resolution. Issues such as regular health checkups
with maximum contribution from non-governmental organizations (NGO’s),
balancing the composition of the provided food to provide sufficient nutrients
for each individual, and creating a sanitary environment in ways such as but
not limited to provision of sufficient clothing, enhancing facilities like
kitchen and cafeterias, as well as supplying soaps and sanitizers were
suggested.
“Delegates
are discussing about improving conditions in juvenile centers,” Vice Chair of
UNCEF explained before the debate session opened. Separating juveniles from
young adults in order to reduce their stress, boys from girls, and providing
proper education in juvenile centers seemed to be the driving force, in other
words, the main goal of the UNICEF committee. “Because each juvenile is brought
up in different environments, they learn to approach problems differently and
have had different sets of responsibilities,” the delegate of Lebanon stated.
Hence, she is pushing for the reconsideration of the age restriction for
juvenile centers to be designated as 17. Using NGO’s as the medium in raising
awareness on the necessary establishment of education programs to prevent youth
from demonstrating criminal behaviors, and utilizing NGO’s to educate and
enhance the community’s
awareness on the effects delinquent youths can draw upon the community as well
as the individuals themselves.
UNICEF
debated its clauses at a quick pace as Session 3 opened, passing multiple
operative clauses regarding preventive and rehabilitative centers for juvenile
delinquents. A clause proposed by the delegate of Central African Republic
called for NGO’s to establish separate incarceration centers for youths who
had committed less serious crimes. The separation of the offenders was to
ensure that the delinquents were not forming “hierarchies, with the ones who
committed the most serious crimes at the top.” The delegate of France
emphasized the need for proper reeducation and psychological care, especially
for repeated offenders. The policy of educating the offenders and helping them
reintegrate themselves back to society, the delegates hoped, would in the long
run generate the most benefits for the countries.
The house, however,
was not always undivided. With another clause submitted by the delegate of
Central African Republic, the delegate of the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the
delegate of Turkey raised points of information that questioned the
plausibility and the necessity of her proposal. The proposal was to train
experts in psychotherapy and education psychology to provide mental care
programs to juvenile delinquents. Problems arose as the wording of the clause,
specifically regarding “test requirements” to determine which psychology
experts would be eligible for the job, appeared too vague. The delegate of U.K.
was skeptical as to “what the tests are looking for” and “who would be
administering these tests”; the delegate of Turkey strongly asserted that the
idea was “not realistic to implement at this time,” with no specific
sub-clauses that detailed the sources of funding for these mental care programs
and the training of the psychological experts.
At the end
of the day, UNICEF was able to successfully pass a resolution with —
clauses that dealt with multiple social, economic aspects of the issue. The
idea of setting the minimum age for criminal responsibility was no longer only
a spoken proposal, but a complete operative clause with three sub-clauses, each
flanked by sub-sub-clauses to tackle the most specific aspects of the issue.
Multiple clauses incorporated varying approaches to better provide education
and other preventive measures, while they required proper treatment of those
who were incarcerated. The members of UNICEF undoubtedly met their objective of
the day.
by Seoyoon Choi and Danette Chun
United Nations Development Program
With
20 minutes given to the lobbying session, delegates gathered in the small room
for UNDP and in crowds passionately elaborated upon the decisions they’ve chosen. Before diving into the debate itself,
the Chair carefully explicated the details of the procedures. Keeping aware of
time limits, speaking in third person, submitting amendments an the amount of
time allocated to them, keeping all notes appropriate, extending points of
information. The UNDP Chair, Joyce Xi, impeccably covered all these tedious but
important details.
As
soon as the session opened, Tanzania’s clause was immediately debated upon. Increasing
investment for children’s
education, the opportunities for women to receive loans, and even adopting
group lending systems were suggested. The danger of the bank providing
micro-finance was recognized, and the high repayment rate of poor clients and
the impracticality of poor citizens repaying loans with high interest rates due
to transaction costs, have been addressed with gravity. Tanzania strongly
advocated lowering interest rates without excessive government intervention,
promoting fast track licensing, and providing tax credits. Delegates discussed
strategies to be used for encouraging competition such as the utilization of
group lending systems, transferring of transaction costs to clients,
incorporation of technology in the lending process, as well as discussions on
incorporating 10% to 20% interest rate caps. Overall international cooperation
in debt cancellation as well as encouraging markets competitions to reduce
interest rates were acquiesced with by the majority.
The delegate
of Iraq opened up Session 3 with a clause on promoting education with
microfinance loans. The clause called for collaboration with multi-national
governments and assistance to developing nations that lack the basic
infrastructures for their education system. It was proposed by the delegate of
Australia that the P5 nations, especially the United Kingdom and China, provide
microfinance loans and necessary aid to these less economically developed
countries (LEDCs) and help develop the education system. The
delegate of Syria added that services and necessary programs other than
education, such as health care, should also be encouraged and added to the
clause.
Many
delegates of the UNDP were also eager to propose amendments to help improve the
ideas of their fellow delegates. The delegate of Vietnam called for imposing “requirements
such as school attendance and vaccinations” to fund for education systems and
at the same time improve the living standards of the LEDCs. Possible
implausibilities in his idea were then pointed out by the delegate of Australia
and the delegate of Ethiopia, such as that the “requirements” might be
difficult to implement depending on the differences in circumstances for each
country. Others noted that the entity that imposes these requirements and
provides the loans should be a joint organization previously created by the
committee, rather than designating the World Bank, the United Nations, and
other institutions separately.
At the end
of Session 3 the members of the UNDP successfully passed a resolution on the
topic of improving self-sustainable economies through loans with seven thoroughly
debated clauses. Thanks to the new debate format at YMUN Korea, each clause was
heavily detailed with practical plans for the distribution of loans, discussing
complex economic concepts that high school students are not generally expected
to understand. “At the beginning I was confused about the format, especially
because this is my first MUN experience.” The delegate of Brazil, interviewed
yesterday about her first session of MUN, seemed much more confident today.
“Now I’m one of the most active members speaking on clauses and asking POI’s. I
really do enjoy MUN.”
by
Seoyoon Choi and Danette Chun
United Nations Environment Program
When the second day of the conference began, the delegates seemed eager to reopen debate. With the topic of transnational pollution being a very broad problem with no regional boundaries, the majority of the UNEP delegates agreed that collective action was necessary.
The debate centered
on making decisions concerning the environment and the potential effective
measures to improve political conflicts on pollution to encourage the
development of Ecocities. The delegates first started with a clause
establishing a universal settlement body as a third body since none exists to
help solve the pollution conflicts between nations. Then a new clause on
encouraging nations in polluting regions to cooperate to solve the
transnational pollution was presented. Thereafter, another delegated presented
an idea on developing and publicizing green technology to establish sustainable
economic growth.
At the end of the
debate, amendments were submitted to add, strike, amend, or unite clauses. One
delegate encouraged his counterparts to encourage the developed countries to
assist the developing countries with their infrastructure. How this was going
to be done was a contentious issue. Then, USA and Argentina had an entertaining
one to one debate; USA asked Argentina not to be too cynical and Argentina
asked USA to not be so sarcastic and so it went on. At times, the debate overly
leaned towards the reduction of pollution in general and the delegates had
great ideas on prevention, though it seemed a little idealistic at times.
However, they were less concerned on resolution disputes and the damage
preparation. Certain delegates led the committee in bringing up good and
important issues, and we hope to see more participate.
The resolution for
this topic consisted of 10 clauses, with the resolution passing with 14 for and
3 abstaining. Congratulations, delegates!
by Jenny Park
United Nations Human Rights Council
When observing the UNHRC committee, the first impression one gets is that they are working as a team. All delegates worked towards the same goal of empowering the status of women in post-conflict societies. The debate centred on women’s rights and how to ensure that they are respected in the midst of social inequity and underprivileged areas after war or political unrest. The delegates came together to evaluate every idea and tried to find the best way to successfully solve the issue at hand.
The delegates mainly focused on creating a realistic solution for all nations represented by respecting each nation’s sovereignty. If a sub-clause did not fit into their nation’s stance, the delegates submitted an amendment to strike, add, or amend said sub-clause.The delegates then went on to discuss their clauses. The clauses were mainly focused on promoting women's rights through education and edification religion and cultures. Delegates also suggested that women should be more politically aware so that they can adopt a more active role in society so that men will give them the respect the delegates aim to achieve for. But who will be educating these people? In countries with few high quality educated people, volunteers and campaigns are needed to achieve this goal.
There were heated discussions between Western and Arab countries with the Arab countries taking a conservative stance and the Western countries taking a more progressive stance. Overall, the delegates focused on the inequalities towards women and how to solve this problem. Then finally, with only one against, the resolution was passed. Well done, delegates!
by Jenny Park
United
Nations Security Council
The UNSC dove right
into debate as the committee already had all the clauses ready at the start of
session 2. The delegate of the United Kingdom was the main submitter of
the first clause that was to be debated. With 9 abstentions, 4 for, and 4
against, the clause successfully made it as part of the resolution.
The most heated debate
throughout the session was regarding the amendment that was submitted by the
delegate of China. She suggested that the UNSC make a sub-committee under
its wing to prevent civil wars from breaking out. However, the delegate of
France was skeptical of creating another “duplication” of UNSC.
The delegate of UK gave argued against this amendment. He said that the
amendment was “contradictory of the initial cause”, and suggested that a
different amendment be made instead.
Before moving on to
voting procedure, the chairs kindly reminded delegates that they are not
allowed to abstain on amendments. Unfortunately, there was only one
delegate who voted for the amendment, so this amendment did not pass.
In UNSC, the Permanent
5 (P5) nations (France, USA, UK, China, and Russia) have veto power.
Should one of the P5 nations veto the resolution, it fails immediately by
default. Fortunately, none did so. In the end, the resolution on topic 1 of
preventing civil wars passed with 16 votes for, 1 against, and 3
abstentions.
Every delegate represented his or her nation well.
Islamic countries seemed inclined to work as a team and they made several
“against” speeches when they deemed that the clause infringed upon their
national sovereignty. In the end, the resolution passed unanimously with
no major contentions.
by
Zoey Ryu
World
Health Organization
Delegates
have raised rather novel and interesting clauses during their lobbying
sessions. However the extension of yesterday’s lobbying period was necessary, for there was an
imbalance in the discussion, meaning delegates focused too heavily on only one
part of the clause, in order to reduce the imbalance and give time to the Chair
to edit each and every clause submitted. Vice Chair spoke of a particularly
interesting clause constructed: delegates were planning to use identification
cards to distinguish those who have been vaccinated, and those yet to receive
one. Isolating those people in hospitals or institutions and leaving them to
contaminate the environment and people of those facilities was something
delegates were concerned about and strongly opposed.
As
soon as delegates proceeded into the debating sessions, the delegate from Russia
introduced her resolution and spoke of having NGOs self-volunteer in evenly
distributing themselves into different regions. She claimed that vaccination is
in dire need of even distribution, and NGOs that are much more prominent, can
contribute to the distribution process effectively. Though there were some
mistakes made during the debate, the WHO Chair politely pointed out the
necessary changes to be made. He was lenient about mistakes in the beginning,
but clarified instructions on rules so that delegates will be more familiar
with the rules next time they speak.
Session 3
began with an operative clause regarding the issue of ensuring the full
eradication of polio. The operative clause, introduced to the house by the
delegate of France, was mainly concerned with encouraging nations to accept
medical aid in forms of medications, health care workers, and other supplies in
their efforts to reduce polio infections. The delegate of France suggested that
“the fear of polio vaccinations has led to preventable
outbreaks of the disease” and that nations ought to adopt vaccinations as a
mandatory procedure. One of the major hindrances in eradicating polio has
indeed been a religious and cultural objection to use vaccinations. The
delegate of Japan suggested informing the public on the symptoms of polio with
non-fatal infections, semi-fatal infections, and fatal infections “to help them
differentiate their conditions from the common cold.”
The final
resolution for the issue of ensuring the full eradication of polio contained
nine total clauses, all of which tackled different aspects of the problem with specific
guidelines. The idea of vaccination identification cards, originally proposed
during the lobbying session, had solidified into a full clause that would
enable WHO and UNICEF workers in various developing countries determine which
patients needed vaccinations. The committee had also provided for sanitation
requirements to prevent polio outbreaks and to improve the general living
conditions in these countries. Border control agents had also been tasked to “collaborate
with WHO health officials to monitor the spread of the polio virus,” under a
clause developed by the delegate of Russia. The hard work of the delegates
throughout the day had truly had its fruit.
By
Seoyoon Choi and Danette Chun
Meet the ECOFIN Chair
Benjamin Della Rocca, the ECOFIN
chair for YMUN Korea 2014, is a junior at Yale majoring
in Ethics, Politics, and Economics, and has been serving as the Vice President
of YIRA this past year. Having served “on the executive board that oversees the organization as
a whole”
and participated in numerous YIRA constituent programs, Benjamin is familiar
with the amount of time, effort and commitment that is required to organise
this conference. His past experience includes helping organize high school
conferences in Budapest as a secretariat member, and he applies all that
accumulated knowledge whenever he commits himself to college
conferences. Similarly, he makes use of all his valuable experience as a member
of the competitive Model UN Team at Yale when he works alongside Miranda
Melcher, the USG of Committees, to train the chairs.
As a very experienced delegate who
has copious amounts of experience in both conferences held in the United States
and overseas, Benjamin is able to dish out very valuable advice for this conference. During Model UN conferences, the
one most important thing that delegates must do is to make things happen – to be the one that leads
the committee forward, to demonstrate his or her full potential, to give
speeches, as well as participate in negotiations. It is important to showcase
the hard work and preparations that you have put into the conference. “Because YIRA emphasizes the
teaching and education aspect of its programs”, Ben states, “YIRA-run conferences have far more educational value
than any of our
competitors.”
As such, Benjamin is enthusiastic about helping delegates learn about the
topics with more depth and breadth.
by Danette Chun
by Danette Chun
Meet the UNSC Chair
At this year’s YMUN Korea 2014, David Steiner –
an experienced YMUN chair from Silliman College, Yale University –
will be chairing the UNSC. He is an active member of
the Yale International Relations Association (YIRA) and a member of the YIRA
Board of Directors.
David has a wealth of experience stemming from his involvement
in organising various conferences under YIRA, having been the Co-Chair of the
Nuremberg Trials alongside Ben Della Rocca (who is chairing ECOFIN at YMUN
Korea 2014), the Director-General of Committees at Yale Model Government Europe
2014, the Chair of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at Yale Model United
Nations Korea 2013, the Assistant Secretary-General of Specialized Committees
at Yale Model United Nations 39, and the Crisis Director of Steel City Empire
at the Security Council Simulation at Yale. He has been involved in many forms
of Model United Nations in various countries for years, and clearly knows its
inner workings. After considering all his excursions into new, undiscovered
aspects of Model United Nations and his experience as a leader in various
committees, David feels that the committee he is most proud of being a part of is
the Brussels Press Corps.
In addition to this list of prestigious positions and
conferences, David’s Model United Nations career in fact
began when he was in high school, having attended a number of conferences each
year as a delegate. He has had a diverse experience in Model UN, ranging from important
roles such as Chair, Director-General, Assistant Secretary-General to being
assigned to small, relatively less prominent countries when he attended a large
conference as a high schooler. As an experienced Model United Nations Chair, David
encourages less experienced delegates to speak as much as they can, no matter
how nerve wrecking it can be. He believes that sometimes, the best way to
improve at making logical and coherent speeches and to overcome nervousness is
just to give speech after speech, seeing it as good form of practise.
David is very excited to part of the UNSC this year at YMUN Korea 2014. He is especially excited to discuss
with the rest of the delegates a legal framework for the conduct of cyber warfare.
Since no actual international legal framework currently exists, they’ll
really be working on the cutting edge, and David really cannot wait to dig in.
by Jasmine Lee
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